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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
CLEVELAND (AP) -- The center-field problem the Cleveland Indians
thought they had luckily ducked finally caught up to them.
|  | | Yankees catcher Jorge Posada couldn't handle an excellent throw, and Jim Thome scored to tie the game at 1 in the fourth inning. |
Mark Whiten, making his first start of the season in center,
misplayed Shane Spencer's triple and dropped Ricky Ledee's RBI
double in the ninth inning as the New York Yankees scored twice for
a 6-5 victory and a three-game sweep of the Indians.
Injuries to All-Star Kenny Lofton and Jacob Cruz have left the
Indians with few options in center, and Whiten was only out there
because manager Charlie Manuel decided to give Jolbert Cabrera a
night off.
"I just misplayed them," said Whiten. "I just didn't come up
with the catches. I should have made them."
The Yankees, who make themselves at home every year in Jacobs
Field, trailed 5-1 in the seventh but scored twice in the eighth
off Paul Shuey and then won it in the ninth against Steve Karsay
(0-1).
New York, which won the series opener on a weird double play in
the ninth, is 24-9 all-time at the Jake. The Yankees have won four
in a row and are 418-256 under manager Joe Torre -- a full 162-game
season above .500.
"The thing about this club is that even when it doesn't play
well it has a habit of not giving up, either," Torre said. "We've
turned games around that looked hopeless before."
And the Yankees are making a habit of beating the Indians.
They've won 14 of their past 18 meetings with Cleveland.
Spencer, who homered earlier, keyed the comeback with his first
career triple, a straightaway shot over Whiten's head. Scott
Brosius tied it at 5 with an RBI single and scored when Ledee drove
in the go-ahead run with a shot to center that Whiten ran down on
the warning track but couldn't hold on to.
"I didn't know what had happened until I got in," Brosius
said.
Whiten didn't make any excuses.
"It was tough to try and judge the wall and get the ball but I didn't time them right," Whiten said. "The way this game went we got a couple breaks our way early and then it turned the other way."
Whiten was brought up from Triple-A Buffalo on Sunday when Cruz
was placed on the 60-day disabled list with a torn knee ligament
and Lofton went on the 15-day DL with a strained biceps muscle.
Jason Grimsley (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings and Mariano
Rivera worked the ninth for his league-leading 10th save and third
of the series.
For the third straight game, Rivera put runners on in the ninth,
but got David Justice to fly to center for the final out.
Spencer homered in the seventh and hit first triple in 356
at-bats in the ninth when the Yankees got to Karsay, who had been
5-for-5 in save tries.
"I've got to shut the door and get it done," Karsay said. "We
need to hold the lead as a bullpen."
Trailing 5-1, the Yankees crept back on Spencer's sixth homer
off starter Dave Burba and Paul O'Neill's two-run double in the
eighth off Shuey.
For the first time in a week, the Indians, who learned that
Manuel would have colon surgery Friday and could be away from the
team for two weeks, combined solid pitching with some offense.
But this time, Cleveland's bullpen let the Indians down.
"With a 5-2 lead, I'll turn that over to our bullpen any day,"
Burba said. "Ninety-eight of 100 times we're going to win the
game."
Cleveland, which had scored 11 runs in its last five games,
managed 10 hits -- eight off starter David Cone -- and got a couple
of lucky bounces against the Yankees, who weren't sharp in the
field.
After scoring just four runs in their previous three games, the
Indians opened a 5-1 lead with some help. Catcher Jorge Posada
dropped an excellent throw to the plate and Brosius dropped a throw
to third, both plays allowing runners to be safe.
Game notes
This was only the third time the Indians have been swept in
a three-game series at the Jake. ... Spencer is 13-for-23 with four
homers and nine RBIs in his career against the Indians. He's
3-for-6 with three homers against Burba. ... Burba is 0-5 in six
career starts against the Yankees. ... Five of Cleveland's last six
games have been decided by one run. ... Usually among the league
leaders in every offensive statistical category, the Indians rank
14th in hits and total bases and 12th in batting average, runs
scored and RBIs. Last year, Cleveland became the seventh team in
major league history and the first since 1950 to score 1,000 runs
in a season. ... Rivera retired Manny Ramirez in the ninth with a
runner on second. Ramirez is 0-for-12 lifetime against the closer.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
NY Yankees Clubhouse
Cleveland Clubhouse
Baseball in the Big Apple
Indians manager to leave team for colon surgery
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